Don't flog Live 8 tickets on eBay, pleads eBay

Tickets still up for grabs

Live 8 tickets are still being offered for sale on eBay despite the stink kicked up by Bob Geldof.

The auction site performed a startling U-turn yesterday after first insisting that it would not pull the sale of tickets and stating "it is a fundamental right for someone to be able to sell something that is theirs whether they paid for it or won it in a competition."

A few hours later the internet company said it had responded to its "vibrant community of buyers and sellers" and decided to pull the auctions.

"Though selling these tickets on eBay is not illegal and we believe people do have the right to buy and sell items as they choose, we made an exception to our policy on the occasion of this unique, charitable concert," it said in a statement.

But tickets are still being offered for sale on the site with more than a dozen pairs spotted this afternoon.

A spokeswoman explained: "Once we are aware of any Live 8 tickets being offered for sale, these listings will promptly be taken down.

"However, Live 8 listings may be up on the site for a short time before being taken down since, as eBay is a marketplace, it is not possible to block or check listings before they appear.

"In the meantime, we would like to ask the public to stop listing Live 8 tickets. We are also asking our community of buyers and sellers to let us know if they see any Live 8 tickets on the site so we can quickly take them down," she said. ®